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Working at the Ministry for the Environment

Aotearoa – he whenua mana kura mō te tangata – to make New Zealand the most liveable place in the world.

Want to help us?

The aim of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is to make Aotearoa New Zealand the most liveable place in the world for our children, their children and their mokopuna. For MfE, this means putting New Zealanders at the heart of our work and recognising that a thriving environment is good for us all. Our environment is precious and we have a deep connection with it. Our natural resources support our livelihoods, our way of life, and our sense of wellbeing and are part of our cultural identity as New Zealanders. We take a strategic approach, working on the cutting edge of how policy is made. We are strengthening how we engage and partner with external organisations to build on our strengths and to deliver high performance and impact.

MfE acts as a steward for the environment and we look across the natural resources system to connect, engage and mobilise others so we can all make better decisions about how we manage the environment.

Our working environment

People are at the heart of what we do, because without people walking alongside us, we can’t make the changes we need for the good of the environment and for long-term prosperity. Strong partnerships, particularly with Māori and iwi, underpin our ability to succeed.

In the same way that we aspire to make Aotearoa New Zealand the most liveable place in the world, we also aspire to be a fantastic place to work. Our people are passionate about the work we do and the difference we can make. We know that when all of us are well aligned and working together at our best that makes for better results for the environment and those we work with.

What our people say:

Our people tell us the ‘top five’ things they love about MfE are:

how friendly and supportive the people are

the shared passion for the environment

the variety of challenging, meaningful work

working with smart talented colleagues they can learn from, and

our flexible approach to work.

We want to build on those strengths and continue to help our employees to deliver on our strategy through meaningful, productive and effective work that is satisfying and makes a difference.

We aim to have clear expectations and innovative processes to allow our employees to have the best working experience.

How we connect with each other

We have collaborative work spaces and quiet areas to give a more flexible way of working. While individual effort is important, we know it’s great teamwork that delivers the best results.

Being aligned and collaborative is important to us; our Chief Executive blogs each week to share stories, celebrate success and keep our focus on what we’re here to achieve. We also have fortnightly get-togethers where our Environment Leadership Team gives updates on key initiatives, welcome new colleagues and asks for feedback.

It’s not all top down – we expect our people to inform and challenge sideways and upwards to ensure MfE is operating at its best.

Our commitment to flexible work practices allows our people to work at the times and locations that suit them. This enables them to do their best both at work and at home.

We embrace diversity and inclusion

What’s important to us is ‘he rau kotahi tangata’ – embracing our multiple talents – by harnessing our diversity and being as inclusive as possible. It takes a great team to produce a great piece of advice or implement an initiative. And when we leverage collectively off our individual talent, expertise, cultural perspectives and diversity of thought, we have great teams. What gives us our Edge? See here.

Many of our people come with international expertise in the environment. Across the Ministry we are always looking to build our capability for working with iwi, hapū and Māori. Through sharing experiences we build a more in-depth understanding of Māori perspectives and world view and we incorporate this into our work.

We have employee-led groups that support inclusiveness, including an active social club and waiata group, and mental health awareness, meditation, yoga and community initiatives. We offer Te Reo Māori and resilience workshops.